Another Road to Redemption
by Ember Quill
Summary: After running to LA, Faith turned herself in and went to prison to atone for her mistakes. But what if that was not the only road to redemption? What if Buffy decided to offer her another chance?
1. A Leap of Faith

**_A/N: _**_I'm experimenting with different styles of writing. Also, I'm actually continuing this former-oneshot into a full-blown story. You may notice a bit of a jump in writing style between the first two chapters as they were written two years apart.__  
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**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not own anything (characters, events, etc.) that you may recognize from either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel. Especially the dialogue I've quoted here._

**_Spoilers: _**_The **Angel** episode "Sanctuary", mostly. "Sanctuary" is really a culmination of a four-episode arc that begins in **BtVS** and crosses over to **Angel** half-way through, but this particular chapter really only references that last episode. The rest of the story covers the last few episodes of **BtVS** season 4.  
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**_Rating: _**_T for a couple mild curses._

* * *

_**Another Road to Redemption  
Chapter 1: A Leap of Faith**_

* * *

Her elbow clipped a brick wall as she turned the corner just a bit too sharply. Biting back a curse, she kept running on, not even daring to slow down. Instead, she coaxed just a bit more speed out of her aching muscles. She needed to be faster. She needed to run faster than she had ever run before. She needed to catch her quarry soon, or she would lose the opportunity to make things right.

Whatever _that_ meant.

Reaching out to her right, Buffy Summers snagged a post and used it to swing around into an alley without losing her momentum.

"_She needs help."_

"_Help? Do you have any idea what she did to me?"_

"_Yes."_

Blinking away the errant memory, she took a deep breath and sprinted even faster. She was using every ounce of her strength, because anything less than that would not be enough. This was her last chance, dammit! If she wasn't fast enough this time, then things would never be right again.

The definition of "right" still eluded her. It was something she could figure out later, at a time when she wasn't otherwise occupied. Now was the time for running.

"_She wants to change. She has a chance to—"_

"_No. No chance. Jail."_

"_You think that'll help?"_

Damn, she had been such a bitch to Angel. At the time, she'd thought he deserved her harsh treatment since he was so intent on harboring a murderer, but now she wasn't so sure. If only everything wasn't so jumbled up in her head right now. If only everything could just make a bit of sense…but that would never happen until she had a chance to figure out why she was running so fast.

She just knew that she had to. She knew that she had to catch her target, but she had no idea why, exactly, she felt that way. She had no idea what she would do if she finally caught up.

"_Buffy? I'm s—"_

"_If you apologize to me, I will beat you to death."_

"…_Go ahead."_

She finally reached the end of the alley. Using the wall on her right as a springboard, she leaped off to the left and hit the ground running. Her feet pounded on the sidewalk as she tested the boundaries of her supernatural speed and strength. She was chasing one of the few beings in Hell or on Earth who could possibly outrun her, so she needed to make use of every trick in her repertoire if she wanted to even have a chance to close the distance between them.

Something insubstantial tugged her attention to the right and she followed the vague sensation immediately, vaulting over passing cars as she dashed across the road and into another alley on the other side. She heard loud curses from a few disgruntled drivers, but paid them no mind. The chase demanded every ounce of her attention.

"_You're about three seconds from making her run. You know that. She's at a crucial stage—"_

"_She's playing you! She tried to kill you."_

"_That was just…That was just a cry for help."_

"_A cry for help is when you say 'Help' in a loud voice."_

A flash of brown hair teased her into moving faster, but she noticed almost immediately that it was entirely the wrong shade. The hair belonged to a woman emptying her trash in the dumpster. Ignoring the slight sense of disappointment, Buffy blew past her, focusing on what her inner Slayer was feeling. There was a connection between the two of them. There always had been, as much as she had wanted to deny it, and it would lead her straight to her target if she could just catch her before she disappeared again.

"_I know Faith did some bad things to you."_

"_You can't possibly know."_

"_**You**__ can't possibly know what she's going through."_

"_But of course you do. I'm sorry. I can't be in your club. I've never __**murdered**__ anybody."_

Of all the stupid things to say, she just had to bring up that particular fact, didn't she? Buffy bit back another vehement curse as she remembered the look on Angel's face after that ill-timed comment. It had been the exact wrong subject to mention and she had known it before she had even finished speaking.

But now she had the chance to make it all right. She could set everything right, make up for all her recent mistakes. She would do the right thing once she caught up with the other Slayer, just as soon as she figured out what exactly the "right thing" was. Turning Faith in for Finch's murder had certainly seemed like a great idea when she first chased her to Los Angeles, but some of the things Angel, and later Faith, had said were beginning to eat away at her formerly-firm resolve.

"_You're __**not**__ gonna run, Faith."_

"_Whaddya wanna do? Throw me off the roof? Again?"_

"_Any reason why I shouldn't?"_

"_There's nothing I can do for you, B. I can't…ever make it right."_

"_So you're just gonna take off again. Leave us to clean up yet __**another**__ one of your messes."_

"_It'd make things easier for you."_

"'_Till you got bored with the whole guilt thing? Decided to come back and shake things up?"_

"_That's not gonna happen."_

"_You're right. It's __**not**__."_

Wall! Buffy swore as she flipped over the obstacle that she had almost slammed into. Her thoughts were getting in the way, clouding her finely-honed Slayer senses so much that she was liable to run full-tilt into something very solid and painful without even noticing. She needed to keep her head in the game, no matter how badly her thoughts were caught in a tangled web, no matter how messed up she was inside. She had no idea what to think anymore. She had no idea what she should do, and it was all because of Faith.

"_Angel said there was no way you were gonna give me a chance."_

"_I gave you __**every**__ chance! I tried so hard to help you, and you __**spat**__ on me! My like was just something for you to play with. Angel. Riley. Anything that you could take from me, you took. I've lost battles before, but nobody else has ever made me a victim."_

Except Angelus. She had been so caught up in her tirade that she had totally forgotten about the whole debacle that had led to Angel's apparent demise two years prior. Angelus had taken everything she had, and then he took more. He had stolen everything that had ever mattered to her, everyone that had ever meant something to her, and stomped all over them. Her friends. Her family. Her pride. Her strength. Her love. Everything. There was only one thing that made Faith's actions seem so much worse.

She had a soul.

She could understand, and maybe even accept, that a soulless vampire would enjoy torturing her. She could even understand that Angelus just didn't care, because Angelus was just the dark, evil side of Angel, without any of his goodness to temper it. But a person? A human being? A Slayer? That went against her very knowledge of what it meant to be Chosen, or even what it meant to be human.

But then Faith had said something that shook her to her very core. The implications of her confession weight heavily on Buffy's mind.

"_And you can't stand that. You're all about control. You have no idea what it's like on the other side! When nothing's in control; nothing makes __**sense**__! There's just pain and hate and nothing you do means __**anything**__! You can't even—"_

"_Shut up!"_

How eloquent. She felt like a moron for even resorting to such juvenile tactics. She had been ignoring Faith's words, her desperate tone, everything. Until Faith spoke up again, in a quiet, hopeless voice.

"_Just tell me how to make it better."_

And there it was. The look on the other Slayer's face as she spoke, the emotion behind her words, the hopelessness that Faith showed in every movement, every gesture, every word. It hurt Buffy just to see it. Just to hear it in her voice. And it made her question everything she had ever thought she knew about Faith.

It left her unable to tell up from down anymore. Her mind was so completely _blown_ by just those few sentences that she had been left without even an iota of an idea of what to do next. And now, she was chasing after Faith, knowing that she had to catch up before her fellow Slayer managed to shake her and vanish once again. What would she do when she caught up? The jury was still out.

There! Another flash of brunette! Even from fifty yards away, Buffy knew that particular shade of brown. She knew just whose hair happened to be that color. She was not wrong this time. It was Faith.

She cursed and sped up even more as the hair vanished around a bend in the long alley. Her muscles ached and strained as she pushed them far beyond their limits and then kept pushing harder. She had never abused them so much before, and she would certainly pay for it later when they all cramped up, but she could not slow down now, not when she was so close! She was almost there!

But she still needed to figure out what to do next.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, she rounded a corner and there she was, just a few yards away. Buffy coiled her leg muscles and leaped with all of her strength, catching her quarry by the shoulders and bringing them both down to the pavement. Faith struggled weakly, but both of them were so tired by now that they were in no shape to fight, so the blonde managed to hold her down with her weight alone.

Taking deep breaths to calm her raging heart and relieve her protesting muscles, she looked down at Faith's face and felt her heart twist in a way that was definitely not related to her exertions. The brunette looked so lost and alone, so sad and defeated…

"I told you that you couldn't run," Buffy wheezed between deep breaths. "You're not running away this time. Not anymore."

"I wasn't going to," the younger Slayer replied, her eyes flicking towards the end of the alley. Buffy's eyes followed her gaze to alight upon a Police Station that shone like a beacon in the darkness that was Los Angeles.

"You think that'll help?" Buffy asked, quoting Angel word-for-word as the chaotic thoughts in her mind finally began to coalesce into a cohesive picture. "Get some time to yourself to think about the mistakes you've made? Live out your sentence in peace? It won't do you any good."

"Then tell me what to do!" Faith shouted, her eyes brimming with tears now. "Tell me how to make it all right again! Tell me how to fix everything I've broken! Tell me how to keep on living, or just let me die!"

That was all it took. As Faith spoke, her voice laced with desperation and tears beginning to leak from her eyes, Buffy finally came to a decision that surprised her more than she cared to admit. She didn't have time to second-guess herself though, so she just rolled with it.

"Come back to Sunnydale with me," she said firmly.

Faith's jaw dropped in astonishment as she stared at the Slayer who was still pinning her to the ground. Her struggles and tears slowed and stopped as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard.

"But…why?"

"You're looking for redemption, right?" Buffy asked, still trying to figure out what the hell she would say next. "Remember your motto? 'Want. Take. Have.' Salvation isn't served on a silver platter. That's too easy. You have to _want_ it. You have to _take_ it. Or you will never _have_ it."

Faith opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came. She was struck speechless.

"I won't kill you," Buffy reassured her as she finally realized what she wanted to say next. "I won't punish you. That would be too easy. You wouldn't have to do anything but just sit there and _take_ it. No, you have to work for your forgiveness, like Angel is doing. You have to try. You have to struggle. You have to _strive_ for your redemption. You have to earn it fair and square, and the only way to do that is to come back to Sunnydale with me and be a real Slayer again."

"I…I don't think I can do that, B," Faith murmured, still in shock. "I can't be…I can't be _right_ again."

"Maybe not," Buffy admitted with a shrug. "Maybe it's all for nothing and you'll never be forgiven, no matter what you do. But so what? Will you just let the long odds discourage you? Will you give up now that the going has gotten tough? Or will you suck it up and deal with it like the Slayer you should be?"

"What do you care?" Faith asked quietly, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Buffy wasn't sure how to answer that, and remained silent for a full minute before speaking up.

"I dunno," she mumbled. "Yeah, I admit that a part of me wants to just get you out of the way for good, either by finally killing you or by turning you in to the cops or the Council. But…I guess another part of me is looking for forgiveness as well."

Now Faith was _really _confused. "Why?" she asked curiously. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

Buffy thought long and hard before answering.

"I have a lot to be sorry for, actually," she realized. "I'm sorry about the way I pushed you away. I'm sorry for treating you like the lowest kind of criminal just because you made a mistake. I'm sorry for overreacting so badly that I scared you off."

Faith was struck speechless once again.

"I'm sorry for acting all jealous and petty when I thought you were trying to take my place. I'm sorry for not trusting you more."

When Faith continued to remain silent, Buffy took a deep breath and sighed before asking the million-dollar question.

"So…I know it'll be difficult, and it'll take a while to earn everybody's trust back, but…are you willing to go back to Sunnydale and start again?"

* * *

_**A/N: **So, what do you think? Since this is an experiment, constructive criticism would be welcome. Especially when pertaining to plot holes and inconsistencies.  
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	2. One Small Step

_**A/N: **OH MY GOD A NEW CHAPTER WHAT IS THIS BLACK MAGIC_

_Yes, I finally decided to continue the oneshot. Quick warning: don't expect frequent updates. I rarely have both the free time and the inspiration to write these days. Time between chapters could vary from a few days to a whole year or even more, so just put it on your alert list if you like it and don't hold your breath._

_The disclaimer from the first chapter still applies, and this is the last time I'll mention it._

* * *

_**Another Road to Redemption**_

_**Chapter 2: One Small Step**_

* * *

The two Slayers sat together on a Greyhound bus headed towards Sunnydale. The brunette was staring vacantly out the window, deep in thought, while the blonde next to her was fast asleep.

Faith certainly didn't blame the other Slayer for falling asleep barely ten minutes after leaving Los Angeles. Neither of them had managed to get much sleep the previous night. Both were worried about the kind of reception they might get once they returned. Faith stifled a yawn as she glanced at Buffy, then turned to press her forehead against the window once more.

"What the hell am I doing?" she asked herself quietly.

Her thoughts had been endlessly circling all day, but she still had no answers. She didn't know why she had accepted Buffy's offer. She couldn't figure out why she hadn't just turned herself in to the cops as she had been planning.

Faith and Buffy had remained in LA just long enough for the police to drop their charges against Angel due to lack of evidence. He'd only spent a few hours in a cell, and was let out before sunrise.

Buffy had spoken once more to Angel before leaving. Faith, concerned about what her future might be, had listened in even after Buffy asked her to leave the room. She pressed her forehead to the bus window and recalled the conversation…

* * *

_**Several hours earlier…**_

"You should've told me what was going on."

Angel raised an eyebrow at Buffy before he sighed and looked away. "It wasn't any of your business."

"Not my business?" Buffy echoed quietly. Faith opened the door slightly further so she could hear what they were saying. Excellent hearing was one of the perks of being a Slayer, but Buffy and even Angel could hear just as well, so they didn't need to talk as loud.

"I needed more time with Faith. I'm not sure…"

"You needed…" Buffy hesitated, looking bewildered. "Do you have any idea what it was like for me to see you with her?"

"Buffy, this wasn't about you!" Angel exclaimed. Faith had no trouble hearing him now. "This was about saving somebody's soul! That's what I do here, and you're not a part of it. That was your idea, remember? We stay away from each other."

"I came here because you were in danger—" Buffy tried to explain.

"I'm in danger every day. You came because of Faith. You were looking for vengeance."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I was looking for vengeance. Maybe I had a right to it."

"Not in my city," Angel growled at her. Then he frowned. "What changed your mind, anyway?"

"…I'm not sure," Buffy answered hesitantly. "I didn't even really know what I was going to do until after I caught up with her, but some of the things you said…and the things _she_ said…just sort of clicked. Like what I had to do just suddenly made sense."

"You don't sound like you've forgiven her," Angel remarked.

"I haven't." Faith flinched at Buffy's words. "Not yet. Maybe not for a while."

"Maybe she should stay here, then," Angel suggested. "She needs help, not blame."

Buffy shook her head and sighed. "You don't get it, do you?" she asked. "Maybe you never did. You can't help her."

"Why not?!" Angel demanded. "That's what we do here in LA, in case you haven't noticed. We help those who can't help themselves."

"Even after all that time you spent with me, you _still_ don't understand Slayers, do you?" Buffy replied.

"No, but I understand _her_," the vampire retorted.

"Do you?" Buffy asked, voice rising. "Do you have any idea what it's like? Sure, you've killed people in the past. We all know that. But it wasn't you. It was Angelus, the demon inside you. _She_ doesn't have it as easy as you do. No scapegoat to blame—"

"You don't know me half as well as you think you do," Angel growled at her.

"And whose fault is that?" Buffy asked. Then she shook her head and sighed. "You know what? Never mind. Forget it. Faith, we're leaving. Ready?"

* * *

Faith's forehead knocked against the window, bringing her out of her memories. Shaking her head to clear it, she turned to see that Buffy was waking up. Past the blonde Slayer, on the right-hand side of the bus, she saw the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign glide by.

"Almost there, B," Faith finally spoke up, her voice quaking.

_Where's your endless confidence, Slayer?_

"You sound as scared as I feel," Buffy murmured sleepily.

"You don't sound scared at all," Faith replied with a wry half-smile that quickly faded.

"I've gotten better at hiding it."

"What else are you hidin', B?"

Buffy looked over at Faith and shrugged.

Angel had told her everything, or at least a summary of everything that had happened since Faith had showed up. He'd talked about his one-sided fight against Faith, and about how she had grown weaker and more desperate until she finally just begged him to kill her.

Buffy couldn't imagine what that was like. Wanting to die, to be punished for being a monster.

She hoped she would never find out.

She had gotten a taste of Faith's loneliness during the body swap. Suddenly, there was nobody on her side. No friends, no family, nobody at all who trusted her even the slightest bit, until she finally convinced Giles that she was really Buffy in Faith's body. Even then, he'd been wary around her. Everyone had been. As much as they knew she was really Buffy, they still saw Faith every time they looked at her.

_And Faith has to live with that every day,_ Buffy realized.

She wouldn't wish that sort of feeling on anybody.

* * *

"I can't do this, B."

Buffy turned away from Giles's front door as she lowered the hand that had been poised to knock. She sighed when she saw Faith's expression.

"You have to, Faith," she said quietly.

"I can't face them," Faith muttered with her fists clenched, "not after all the shit I did. Not after—"

Buffy wondered where Faith's brave front had gone. She hadn't seen a sign of it since before Faith had fled Sunnydale.

"I know it's hard," Buffy said as she walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's hard for me, too. I still don't know how I feel about all this. But everybody deserves a chance and going to prison wasn't gonna solve anything."

"What if they…"

"I won't lie and say everything will be alright," Buffy spoke up. "It'll be hard and you'll have to work at it. But I think they'll forgive you eventually."

"Will you?" Faith asked.

Buffy sighed quietly. "Eventually," she repeated.

When she saw Faith's hurt expression, she elaborated quickly, "I want to. I really do. And I will. But…I can't do it yet. We've got lots of baggage to work through and it'll take time but it _will_ happen. I promise."

"Thanks," Faith muttered. "I…guess that's something, at least."

"No matter what I'm feeling, I've still got your back," Buffy reminded her. "I'll still stand up for you if things go sour."

Faith let out the breath she had just realized she was holding. She wanted to say how much it meant, that Buffy was willing to put aside her own feelings just to give her this chance, but she couldn't find the right words. Instead, she just offered a tiny, but completely genuine smile.

Buffy grinned in reply and took her hand, pulling her towards the door.

"Come on," she said. "The sooner you do it, the sooner it's done."

"Oh, well, _that's_ reassuring," Faith remarked dryly.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy knocked.

* * *

Rupert Giles stood up and stretched when he heard the knock on his door. He had been sorting through books again. It seemed as if book-sorting was all he did, these days. Even without a library, he was still a librarian, a curator of his own collection of mystical and supernatural tomes.

"Just a moment!" he announced loud enough for whoever was outside to hear, as he glanced at the precarious stack of books on the coffee table to make sure they wouldn't fall over. When he was satisfied with the stability of his organized chaos, he turned towards the door, hoping the visitor was Buffy. Ever since she had left for LA to find Faith, he had been waiting for her to return safely. Sparks tended to fly whenever the two Slayers met, but he hoped his Slayer had managed to contain the situation without too much trouble.

Needless to say, he was shocked when he opened the door to see Faith standing before him.

With Buffy.

…Holding hands?

Giles blinked. Clearly his mind was playing tricks on him, as there was something inherently wrong with what he was seeing. Buffy was smiling hesitantly at him, but otherwise appeared completely unconcerned about Faith's presence next to her. Faith herself looked…nervous?

"Good Lord," he muttered.

"I can explain," Buffy said quickly, in an obvious attempt to diffuse the situation. "Can we come in?"

"Er…" Giles felt an urge to clean his glasses, but repressed it. Impairing his vision in the company of a murderous Slayer was certainly not a good life choice. With a sigh, he stepped aside and gestured wordlessly towards his living room.

The two Slayers entered and he considered opening a bottle of scotch. He knew he would probably need it later.

* * *

Buffy watched her mentor carefully, with a nervous smile plastered across her face.

"…So?" she asked tentatively.

Giles took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts. "To be honest, Buffy, I don't know what to say," he answered. "I am…not exactly inclined to trust Faith after everything she's done." Watching as both of their faces fell, he sighed. "However, your opinion does matter the most," he admitted to Buffy. "You are the one she wronged more than anyone else. If you can trust in her, believe in her, I'd…be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt."

Buffy grinned widely, and Faith offered what could possibly have been interpreted as a grateful smile, but it looked so out of place on her that Giles was momentarily rendered speechless. Finally giving into nagging temptation, he removed his glasses to wipe off the lenses. They were a little smudged after all. It wasn't a nervous habit or anything.

Not at all.

"Now, Buffy," he said seriously as he replaced his glasses, "_I_ may be willing to go along with this, but your friends may believe otherwise."

"I know," his Slayer replied, "but she needs this chance. She wants to make things right."

"I'm aware of that," he agreed with a smile. "I'm not arguing with you. I'm merely reminding you that it will be difficult, and that convincing your friends to give her a chance may not be particularly easy."

"I'll talk to Willow tonight," Buffy murmured. "Xander will have to wait, I guess. And…where should Faith stay?"

Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was _not_ what he had been expecting when Buffy had told him she was going to LA. He'd expected an emotionally-charged confrontation between Buffy, Angel, and Faith, as per usual whenever any two of those three met. He'd expected some violence, some shouting, and perhaps a spot of betrayal.

But he had also expected that Faith would either go to jail or be taken under Angel's wing.

Instead, she was standing in his living room.

"Bloody hell," he murmured.

It was really the only adequate response.

* * *

**_A/N: _**_I hope you like it. I have rewritten this chapter so many times that I've lost count of how many revisions it has. And I'm still not particularly a fan of how it turned out. Unfortunately, it's a transition chapter and those are always hard to write. The next chapter should be easier.  
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_If you notice anything unintentionally awkward or out of place, please let me know in a review._


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